Iprovement in apparatus for making ice



J. H. BUNNELL. APPARATUS FOR MAKING ICE.

Patented Nov. 10, 1863.

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I'UNI'TED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JESSE-H, consent, or MAssiLLoN, oniol IMPROVEEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING IQE.

S :erilicaiion forming part of Leiir-i's Patent No. 10,57", dated November 10, 1863,

To (LZZ whom, it may cancer-111:,

Be it known that I, Jnssn l-I. BUNNELL, of lllassillomiu'the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Making Ice; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of'this spccificatiomin which Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my improved apparatus. Fig.2 is a side elevation thereof; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken in the lines :0 J0, Figs: 1 and 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obviate the difficulty, delay, and expense occasioned by the adherence of ice to the floor of the vessel or vat in which it is formed, and also to pro vide an apparatus whereby more ready access may had to the ice when it is desired to separate it into blocks of-suitable dimensions for transportation. 4

To this end the invention consists, first, in providing the floorof thevatorvessel in which the ice is to be formed with a number of blocks or studs in such a manner that the area of the surface upon which it rests and to which it is likely to adhere is diminished to such 'an extent that little or no diificulty will be experienced during the operation .of disjoining or removing the same; second, in a novel arrangement of detachable or removable sides or walls; third, in a peculiar arrangement of ventages to be used in connection with my improved vat, all as will be hereinafter fully described.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to fully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying illustration, A represents the floor of the'vat or containing-vessel, which may be made about one hundred feet square. This floor is supported upon rests or timbers B, the ends of which project somewhat beyond the edges of the floor and have standards B rising from their upper side.

The standards B may have strength and rigidity imparted to them by braces b.

C O O. C are side pieces or walls of, say,

and three-fourths.

about one foot anda half in height, resting upon the timbers B and inserted between the standards B and the edges of the floor A; By means of wedges D D these side pieces, C, may beheld in such close proximity with the edges of the floorfA and with each other at their respective ends that the inclosure thus formed may be reudei ed perfectly water-tight. Nailed or otherwise fastened to the floor A,within the inclosure,are a number of wooden blocks or studs, E, about one inch and ahalfsquare, situated at regular distances from each other.

F F are vents in the floor for letting off water,whendesired, closed by cocks or plugs F F. G G G are similar vents in the walls or sides C. closed by corresponding cocks or plugs, G G G, the purposeof which will be hereinafter explained.

Operation: \Vater is first pumped or otherwise introduced into the vessel or 'inclosure until it is filled to the depth of about oneinch It is then submitted to the action of the atmosphere until nearly or quite all of that portion above the blocks or studs E is converted into ice,when the plugs F F are.

withdrawn and the remaining water allowed to pass out at the vents F F in the .floor. The ice within the vat or vessel will thus rest upon the blocks or studs E E. \Vater is then pumped in upon the surface of the ice already formed to such a depth as will be thoroughly and ef-. fectually frozen, the vents-and cocks or plugs G G constituting gages for regulating the depth of the stratum it is designed to freeze to the ice below. When this stratum of water is con- I verted into ice and solidly frozen to the layer beneath, another is introduced and allowed to frecze, a nd this operation is repeated until a block ofthc desired thickness is formed. The wedges D 7 may then be withdrawn, the side pieces removed, and the ice divided into blocks of they required size by' any suitable means.

' From the above description it will be apparent that my improved apparatus may be much more economically employed than those heretofore in use for the following reasons: First, the studs or blocks with which the floor is provided almost wholly obviate the expenditure of time and power in disjoining the ice from the surface upon which it rests and to which it hasadhered; second, much labor and diffiv cult-y is avoided by the provision of the removable sides, in that the operation of sawing or severing the block into pieces of the reice and the floor, as explained.

a 2. The movable sides 0, constructed and secured, substantially as herein described, for

rendering theice accessible to the dividing or sawing apparatus.

3. In combination with the studded floor A E, a series of eoeks'or vents, F I G G, ar-

ranged as and for the purposes specified.

JESSE BUNNELL. Witnesses: JAMES TRIMBLE, W. D.'ROBERTSON. 

